jenecho

Hi, can someone answer a question on surcharges for me?
I want to go to see my brother and am looking at flights to either Seattle or Vancouver. Vancouver is much better, but it is also drastically more expensive. I just looked at the price breakdown to see if this was Canada's fault for imposing higher taxes or something and found that the Govt taxes and charges were actually £20 less. Then I noticed that the BA imposed surcharge was £100 for Seattle and £210 for Vancouver. Even for the children! Can anyone explain to me why this would be. This always used to be referred to as the fuel surcharge but if that was the case then they are pretty much the same distance, in fact Seattle is longer!
Would it be that Canada charges more for slots or something? In which case why not include it in the fare?

etiene

The only reason I can see for not rolling the fare and the surcharges together is that for award tickets the Avios pay the fare - and the surcharges are still due [absent messing around with the Avios/cash mix, anyway]. As to why: because BA want to have that difference...

That sounds like redeeming for Y [economy] though? Not generally considered to be worthwhile value round here [for the above reason].

There'll be an American along any moment to decry BA's "rip-off" surcharges - while denying that there is any link between the better availability of BA awards vs the no-surcharge AA awards.

jenecho

Thanks, no its not a redemption it is a cash fare. I just couldn't understand why everything is more expensive to go to YVR, which is easier for me, when it is pretty much equidistant. I assumed these surcharges were banded in some way.

jenecho

Plus the kids were coming out more expensive than I assumed they would be- they are only around 25% cheaper on the fares plus the deduction of APD for the outbound leg, but whereas if this was only in the fare they would only pay 3/4 of it. As it stands the taxes and charges on a child fare out in econ andback in WT+ are nearly £300, which seems ridiculous.

Dover2Golf

Westjet are operating LGW-YVR with their new 789, fares are very reasonable!

LiHS

I don't have a good answer for you. However, I've observed a similar pattern over recent years, and I always chalked it up to there being more available seats and more competition at SEA for non-stop TATL flights.

What I can tell you is that in general airlines will always charge the most they think they can get away with, and that has very little to do with how much it costs the airline to fly somewhere.

Often1

Not only for awards but for search engine precedence.

Most people search for the cheapest fare or respond to advertising which includes "as low as" fares.

Bottom line is that US carriers don't impose surcharges, so flights to SEA are likely to have lower surcharges on BA than the same flight to YVR which is a different market.

Only OP can determine whether the pricing delta is worth the hassle.

jenecho

But then I wouldn't be able to reap the rewards of my newly minted gold card!

jenecho

Actually the search engines aren't showing any WestJet flights, only directflights are BA and air Canada.

Might be too early for them or a seasonal route- this is for Xmas.

craigthemif

The competitive market sets the price for flights. YVR is a more demanded destination than SEA, so the airlines can charge more. Distance has very little to do with the price of airplane tickets...

CZBB

You're probably only looking at LHR.

WS/Westjet and TS/Transat also fly LGW-YVR, and the prices are generally a lot better. I was looking at a one-way YVR-LGW yesterday, and for dates in October it was a low as C$250 all in on TS; which is just crazy insane cheap.

36902BRF

As an American my complaint is more that the surcharges are significantly higher ex-US or perhaps ex-NA vs that they are charged in the first place. Thankfully there are a few ways to minimize them to an extent.

Often1

If you are looking at taxes & fees, there will also be differences on the round-trip because Canada & the US have different tax structures (although not markedly different as you face with the UK APD).

UKtravelbear

Well there is no child exemption of APD flying ex UK in WTP and above. Airport fees are also the same - no separate child and adult rates for exaample.

The only part of the fare BA discounts for children is the parts it controls the price for and as you have noticed that for whatever reason it charges more for it's own fare elements ex YVR than it does SEA and that is because there is less direct combination on YVR-LHR than there is on the SEA-LHR route and it relies on not many passengers will be willing to get to SEA to save some cash.

JAXBA

Not on their awards, but on their published fares they do, and they’re usually the same as their European joint business partner.